filter105 Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 While in nursing it is 'easier' to switch between speciality(also seems to be one of popular reason why many chose nursing as it will give 'variety of life'...) it seems medicine is pretty rigid. What happens to people who have second thoughts? the post below me asked if that person can be reconsidered as he/she is no longer interested in their match... Can you be specialist and later revert to Family phys (GP?) Can you be a specialist in something and switch to something else later on when you accumulate interest and experience? (many part of medicine overlaps well... some) When I hear baby boomer doctor (straight from high-school doctor who disapproves with the current system - waste of tax money as you will not get many years out of it if older applicant is matriculated-) who went through internship - slightly different system than ours (current anesthesiologist virtually had their positions handed to them - they didn't apply to anywhere else either) and didn't have to deal with so much travelling, I really do wonder if pre-clerkship year is enough for one's self to decide which area they would be willing to practice. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Yes, there are re-entry training positions, and opportunities to take one's career in a different direction as well without retraining in another field of medicine (medicine opens a lot of doors). I don't have much knowledge of nursing, but remember being told that some placement areas were competitive as well (e.g. pediatrics). I think it is definitely possible to decide in a timely fashion, but it takes concentrated effort, self-knowledge, introspection, research skills, observation, and asking the right questions. It may also be the case that one could be perfectly happy in more than one field. e.g. through the process of researching medicine before deciding on a medical career, I already had an idea of my interests/aptitudes and how they fit with the various fields of medicine. Prior to entering medical school, I had a list of most likely fields, fields of moderate interest that I had limited exposure to and needed more experience in to rule out, and fields that I knew were not a good fit. During first and second year, I went to all the career-related talks, as well as set up observerships in all my areas of interest, which helped confirm that my top choices were the best fit (my list changed very little overall). And the rest is history.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 We no longer have a rotating internship system, so a specialist cannot practice as a GP without additional training. Anyone with prior post graduate training can only enter the match in the second round, so there would probably be problems getting a spot in most specialties. And realistically - who would want to do residency twice? Especially if you are older and have a family. Probably better to just tailor your practice to the areas of your own specialty that you still enjoy. Family doctors really have the most opportunity to tailor their practices and do additional training, especially in smaller centres. Some people do transfer during residency though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Also, I would not underestimate the sheer breadth of what can be done, even within one specialty... I remember thinking this as I rotated through Reproductive Endocrinology / Infertility and Urogynecology in Ob/Gyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 There are non-CaRMS re-entry positions that are available for physicians wishing to retrain in a different specialty. I don't really know how these are accessed apart from that they exist, though they seem to be common enough for military docs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Article on re-entry training for family physicians in BC: http://www.cfp.ca/content/56/6/e226.full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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